The Champions League has been the pinnacle of European club football since the European Cup’s 1993 rebrand.
But not all of the competition’s most notable performers have been Europeans – far from it, in fact.
Here, we take a look at the finest talents from the rest of the world to make a profound impression on the Champions League over the years…
Ederson (Brazil)
A multiple Champions League finalist with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, starring as the club claimed their first European crown in 2023, Ederson stood out as one of the competition’s best goalkeepers during the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Arguably the world’s best ‘keeper on the ball, Ederson made his Champions League debut for Benfica, helping them to the 2015/16 quarter-finals.
Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Undoubtedly one of the very best Uruguayan players of all time, Luis Suarez got his Champions League break with Ajax and later scored 25 goals in Europe’s premier club tournament for Barcelona.
Firmly in his prime when he joined Barca in 2014, Suarez helped the Catalan giants to continental glory in his first season, regularly finding the net as the central striker in the iconic ‘MSN’ front three which also featured Lionel Messi and Neymar – including in the 2015 final against Juventus.
Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
An important part of Real Madrid’s 2013/14 Champions League-winning side, Angel Di Maria also lit up the competition in the colours of PSG.
With the French giants, the tricky and versatile winger finished the 2019/20 edition of the competition as joint leading provider, laying on six assists en route to the final.
Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)
Voted Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season as he lifted the trophy for the third successive campaign with Real Madrid in 2017/18, Keylor Navas is perhaps Costa Rica’s greatest-ever player.
A force to be reckoned with between the sticks at his best, Navas played 11 games as Madrid were crowned 2015/16 European champions – and kept clean sheets in nine of them (not too shabby!).
He made a fourth Champions League final appearance in 2020, this time for PSG.
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
One of the most formidable centre-forwards of his era, Didier Drogba was Chelsea’s Champions League-winning hero in 2012, equalising late on in the final against Bayern Munich then dispatching the decisive penalty in the shootout.
The two-time African Footballer of the Year hit double figures in the Champions League for the Blues three seasons running between 2006/07 and 2008/09.
Vinicius Junior (Brazil)
A two-time Champions League winner by the age of 23, Vinicius Junior had well and truly established himself as one of Real Madrid’s main men by the early 2020s.
The electrifying speedster scored more than 10 goals in the competition in each of the 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns, netting the winner in the 2022 final against Liverpool and Madrid’s second as they beat Borussia Dortmund two years later.
Javier Zanetti (Argentina)
Among the finest and most adaptable full-backs in the world in his prime, Javier Zanetti was the first Argentine player to rack up 100 Champions League appearances, finishing on 105.
All of them were for the club where he spent the vast majority of his career: Inter, who he captained to glory as part of a treble under Jose Mourinho in 2009/10.
Dida (Brazil)
Dida was at the peak of his powers during the first decade of the 2000s, winning two Champions Leagues in five years between the sticks for Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan – saving three penalties as they defeated Juventus in a shootout in the 2003 final.
He made 72 appearances in Europe’s top club competition in total, featuring exclusively for the Rossoneri and keeping an impressive 35 clean sheets.
Neymar (Brazil)
As one prong of the great ‘MSN’ attacking trio at Barcelona, Neymar won the 2014/15 Champions League, scoring as Luis Enrique’s side defeated Juventus in the final.
Brazil’s all-time leading marksman – a veteran of more than 80 Champions League appearances – notched a career-best 10 goals in the competition that season, finishing as joint top scorer with teammate Lionel Messi.
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)
Four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto’o is part of a special group to have won the Champions League with multiple clubs.
Cameroon’s greatest player of all time played integral roles in triumphs at Barcelona and Inter, opening the scoring in the final for the former against Arsenal in 2006 and Manchester United in 2009, then helping the latter to victory over Bayern Munich in 2010.
He scored 30 Champions League goals overall, reaching double figures in two campaigns for both Barca and the Nerazzurri.
Casemiro (Brazil)
Casemiro enjoyed the best years of his career at Real Madrid, cementing his status among the very best defensive midfielders in the game and collecting an enviable five Champions League winner’s medals.
They included three in a row under Zinedine Zidane between 2016 and 2018, and he made the competition’s Squad of the Season en route to each of the latter two of those triumphs.
Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
Simply one of the finest left-backs ever to do it, Roberto Carlos dazzled on the continental stage for Real Madrid either side of the turn of the century.
A winner in 1998, 2000 and 2002, the man with a penchant for outrageous goals featured 120 times in the Champions League (107 for Madrid and 13 for Fenerbahce), playing the full 90 minutes in all three of those final victories.
Marcelo
Another great attacking Brazilian left-back who made a profound impression on the Champions League with Real Madrid, Marcelo tasted continental glory five times between 2014 and 2022, playing a vital role in that memorable three-peat.
Included in four Champions League Squads of the Season, he lifted the trophy as captain in 2022, his final act as a Madrid player.
Ronaldinho (Brazil)
Regularly providing moments of unparalleled entertainment, Ronaldinho was an absolute magician of a footballer and unquestionably one of the world’s very best during the mid-00s.
The 2005 Ballon d’Or winner led the Champions League for assists as he starred in Barcelona’s 2005/06 success, having scored one of the competition’s most iconic goals the previous season: an outrageous toe-poke from outside the box against Chelsea.
Kaka (Brazil)
So extraordinarily talented was Kaka that he was named both UEFA Club Midfielder and Club Forward of the Year, scooping the accolades in 2005 and 2007 respectively.
The latter was the standout year of his career, as he dominated the Champions League with Milan, banging in 10 goals in 15 games and getting his hands on club football’s most prestigious trophy.
Oh, and he went and won that year’s Ballon d’Or!
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Who else was it going to be – really? Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, full stop – but we’re sure he won’t mind being called the best-ever Champions League player from outside Europe.
We’ll let the numbers do the talking here: 163 Champions League appearances; 129 goals; top scorer on six occasions; eight hat-tricks; four times a winner – all with Barcelona, including two under Pep Guardiola.
It looks pretty good, doesn’t it?
